Residential and commercial establishments make use of items such as pressure washers, air compressors, leaf blowers, electrical generators, water pumps and trash pumps. These items include their own individual engine for use in driving one or more portions of the device so that they can function for their intended purpose. Inclusion of multiple individual engines in various items located within a residential or commercial setting requires a large amount of maintenance. For example, all of the various engines must be provided with appropriate oil changes, air filter replacements, fuel stabilizer additions, and repairs at various service centers. Aside from the time and cost of such maintenance, the ability to properly maintain so many different engines may be problematic as they each require their own separate maintenance schedule and instructions.
Also, the use of various items that have individual engines necessarily increases the cost, size and weight of the particular item. Compromises are made by the manufacture in the selection of an appropriate engine for a particular device. As such, the device may have certain undesirable features such as a smaller horsepower engine or a pull start mechanism. Further, certain individual engines on devices have complicated starting procedures and are often difficult to quickly actuate. Individual engines on items found in home or commercial settings may possibly generate greater emissions and be less fuel efficient due to their small size. Finally, items that incorporate individual engines may have a small fuel capacity due to the size of the fuel tank associated with the engine. These items may thus require frequent fueling and may run out of fuel at locations remote from a fuel source. As such, there remains room for variation and improvement within the art.
Repeat use of reference characters in the present specification and drawings is intended to represent the same or analogous features or elements of the invention.